a heavy fabric, commonly of wool or nylon, for covering floors.
2.
a covering of this material.
3.
any relatively soft surface or covering like a carpet: They walked on the carpet of grass.
4.
any of a number of airborne electronic devices for jamming radar.
5.
a system of such devices.
–verb (used with object)
6.
to cover or furnish with or as with a carpet.
7.
Chiefly British. to reprimand.
—Idiom
8.
on the carpet,
a.
before an authority or superior for an accounting of one's actions or a reprimand: He was called on the carpet again for his carelessness.
b.
Chiefly British. under consideration or discussion.
[Origin: 1300–50; ME carpete cloth covering for a table, floor, bed, etc. < MF carpite or ML carpīta < It carpita woolen bedspread < VL *carpīta, ptp. of carpīre, for L carpere to pluck, card (wool)]
A thick heavy covering for a floor, usually made of woven wool or synthetic fibers; a rug.
The fabric used for this floor covering.
A surface or surface covering that is similar to a rug: a carpet of leaves and pine needles on the forest floor.
tr.v.
car·pet·ed, car·pet·ing, car·pets
To cover with or as if with a carpet: carpet the stairs; snow that carpeted the sidewalks.
[Middle English, from Old French carpite, from Medieval Latin carpīta, from Old Italian carpita, from carpire, to pluck, from Latin carpere; see kerp- in Indo-European roots.]
1291, "coarse cloth;" 1345, "tablecloth, bedspread," from O.Fr. carpite, from M.L. carpita "thick woolen cloth," pp. of L. carpere "to card, pluck," probably because it was made from unraveled, shreded, "plucked" fabric, from PIE *kerp- "to gather, pluck, harvest" (see harvest). Meaning shifted 15c. to floor coverings. The verb meaning "to cover with a carpet" is from c.1626. From 16c.-19c. often with a tinge of contempt, when used of men (e.g. carpet-knight, 1576) by assoc. with luxury, ladies' boudoirs, and drawing rooms. Carpetbagger, scornful appellation for Northerners who went South after the Civil War seeking private gain or political advancement is first attested 1868, Amer.Eng., formed from carpetbag (n.), 1830, a traveling bag made from carpet fabric. On the carpet "summoned for reprimand" is 1900, U.S. colloquial. To sweep (something) under the carpet in the fig. sense is first recorded 1963.
Buf"fa*lo\, n.; pl. Buffaloes. [Sp. bufalo (cf. It. bufalo, F. buffle), fr. L. bubalus, bufalus, a kind of African stag or gazelle; also, the buffalo or wild ox, fr. Gr. ? buffalo, prob. fr. ? ox. See Cow the animal, and cf. Buff the color, and Bubale.]1. (Zo["o]l.) A species of the genus Bos or Bubalus (B. bubalus), originally from India, but now found in most of the warmer countries of the eastern continent. It is larger and less docile than the common ox, and is fond of marshy places and rivers. 2. (Zo["o]l.) A very large and savage species of the same genus (B. Caffer) found in South Africa; -- called also Cape buffalo. 3. (Zo["o]l.) Any species of wild ox. 4. (Zo["o]l.) The bison of North America. 5. A buffalo robe. See Buffalo robe, below. 6. (Zo["o]l.) The buffalo fish. See Buffalo fish, below. Buffalo berry (Bot.), a shrub of the Upper Missouri (Sherherdia argentea) with acid edible red berries. Buffalo bird (Zo["o]l.), an African bird of the genus Buphaga, of two species. These birds perch upon buffaloes and cattle, in search of parasites. Buffalo bug, the carpet beetle. See under Carpet. Buffalo chips, dry dung of the buffalo, or bison, used for fuel. [U.S.] Buffalo clover (Bot.), a kind of clover (Trifolium reflexum and T.soloniferum) found in the ancient grazing grounds of the American bison. Buffalo cod (Zo["o]l.), a large, edible, marine fish (Ophiodon elongatus) of the northern Pacific coast; -- called also blue cod, and cultus cod. Buffalo fish (Zo["o]l.), one of several large fresh-water fishes of the family Catostomid[ae], of the Mississippi valley. The red-mouthed or brown (Ictiobus bubalus), the big-mouthed or black (Bubalichthys urus), and the small-mouthed (B. altus), are among the more important species used as food. Buffalo fly, or Buffalo gnat (Zo["o]l.), a small dipterous insect of the genus Simulium, allied to the black fly of the North. It is often extremely abundant in the lower part of the Mississippi valley and does great injury to domestic animals, often killing large numbers of cattle and horses. In Europe the Columbatz fly is a species with similar habits. Buffalo grass (Bot.), a species of short, sweet grass (Buchlo["e] dactyloides), from two to four inches high, covering the prairies on which the buffaloes, or bisons, feed. [U.S.] Buffalo nut (Bot.), the oily and drupelike fruit of an American shrub (Pyrularia oleifera); also, the shrub itself; oilnut. Buffalo robe, the skin of the bison of North America, prepared with the hair on; -- much used as a lap robe in sleighs.
Car"pet\ (k[aum]r"p[e^]t), n. [OF. carpite rug, soft of cloth, F. carpette coarse packing cloth, rug (cf. It. carpita rug, blanket), LL. carpeta, carpita, woolly cloths, fr. L. carpere to pluck, to card (wool); cf. Gr. karpo`s fruit, E. Harvest.]1. A heavy woven or felted fabric, usually of wool, but also of cotton, hemp, straw, etc.; esp. a floor covering made in breadths to be sewed together and nailed to the floor, as distinguished from a rug or mat; originally, also, a wrought cover for tables. Tables and beds covered with copes instead of carpets and coverlets. --T. Fuller. 2. A smooth soft covering resembling or suggesting a carpet. "The grassy carpet of this plain." --Shak. Carpet beetle or Carpet bug (Zo["o]l.), a small beetle (Anthrenus scrophulari[ae]), which, in the larval state, does great damage to carpets and other woolen goods; -- also called buffalo bug. Carpet knight. (a) A knight who enjoys ease and security, or luxury, and has not known the hardships of the field; a hero of the drawing room; an effeminate person. --Shak. (b) One made a knight, for some other than military distinction or service. Carpet moth (Zo["o]l.), the larva of an insect which feeds on carpets and other woolen goods. There are several kinds. Some are the larv[ae] of species of Tinea (as T. tapetzella); others of beetles, esp. Anthrenus. Carpet snake (Zo["o]l.), an Australian snake. See Diamond snake, under Diamond. Carpet sweeper, an apparatus or device for sweeping carpets. To be on the carpet, to be under consideration; to be the subject of deliberation; to be in sight; -- an expression derived from the use of carpets as table cover. Brussels carpet. See under Brussels.
Car"pet\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Carpeted; p. pr. & vb. n. Carpeting.] To cover with, or as with, a carpet; to spread with carpets; to furnish with a carpet or carpets. Carpeted temples in fashionable squares. --E. Everett.
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